the communal currency of humanity
by blueh
Summary: the Strawhats exchange stories of their wild captain and their wild adventures ("How did Luffy get someone like you to join the crew?" "He blackmailed me." "Luffy blackmailed…you." "With my swords at a marine base." "There are so many things wrong with that sentence.")


"He'll be fine, you know."

Zoro turns to see Nami leaning up against the second floor rail. She's not looking at him, but she doesn't have to. Zoro has known her long enough to understand what she's feeling. He follows her eyes to the infirmary room door where their reckless captain had a nasty run in with a bunch of marines just a few hours before.

"I'm not worried," Zoro says and it's _true_. Chopper had come out around an hour ago to tell them that Luffy would be fine, just needed rest. "I'm just thinking."

"You?" Nami says in that teasing way of hers. "Thinking?"

If the stupid swirly-browed cook were the one to have said it in a tone like that, Zoro would've taken personal offense and snapped. But Nami—Nami doesn't mean it like the cook does. It's said in a way that an older sibling would tease a younger. Much like when he calls her a witch or she raises his debt.

"That battle just reminds me of how we met," Zoro's eyes drift to the infirmly room door and Nami understands that he's not talking about her. "We've grown."

 _Nice, Zoro!_

Marines, with their reckless belief in their own brand of justice, are always the same. Zoro shouldn't have been reminded of that day because in reality, the battle they just had was not even comparable to that of three years ago. Perhaps it's in the way that they fought together like they did so many years ago in that sloppy way they first fought together and called it teamwork.

(It wasn't true teamwork—true team work wouldn't come until much later, when Arlong threatened one of their friends and they rose to the occasion, but that small marine base in East Blue was the start.)

Nami pushes off the rail of the Sunny and makes her way back down to the grassy deck. After a quick glance back at Zoro, he follows her, not having anything better to do. She sits on the swing and Zoro settles against the base of the mast, putting his hands above his head, closing his eyes and relaxing in the warm afternoon sun. The ship rocks with the waves of the calm sea, which will not last for long, Zoro knows. This is the New World, after all.

He can hear Usopp laughing with Chopper over on the railing and happily chatting about catching fish for dinner tonight. Brook is humming from the crow's nest and Franky can be heard yelling _SUPER_ down in his shop. Robin is the one that Zoro can't hear, but truthfully he's never been able to. The swirly-browed menace is the one Zoro _wishes_ he can't hear, but obviously Sanji doesn't know what the word 'quiet' means as he cleans up the dishes from the first peaceful mean they've had in a long time.

It's relaxing, knowing that he's surrounded by friends. He never thought he would get this far. He always thought his dream was better off completed alone.

"How did he meet you?" Nami's voice snaps him out of his relaxed state. His mind doesn't catch up to his body fast enough and he cracks open an eye to give her a questioning stare.

"Luffy," Nami elaborates. "How did Luffy get someone like you to join the crew?"

There's something about the way she says it that makes Zoro snort. As if _he_ were the one that needed convincing. He didn't put up nearly as much of a fight as Robin or Franky or even Nami herself. Yet, he remembers the day clearly. After all, it's hard to forget meeting a man like Luffy. "He blackmailed me."

Nami's expression morphs into something that Zoro can't quiet describe and it takes all of his willpower not to laugh and how perplexed she seems. "Luffy blackmailed… _you_."

"With my swords at a marine base," it's said with a sort of fondness that Zoro only reserves for his captain and nakama. Something years ago, he wouldn't have dreamed to use on any other person except Kunia. Zoro remembers being anything but fond on that fateful day where Luffy crashed into his life like the whirlwind of energy and freedom that he is.

"There are so many things wrong with that sentence," Nami says.

He can't help his laugh when Nami's expression doesn't change and takes pity of her, launching into the tale of Luffy and the man known as Axe-Handed Morgan along with all of the craziness that came in-between. He talks about his deal, how Luffy and Coby showed up. He talks about that little girl, Rika, and the lengths she went for him. He talks about that stupid, weak marine son (Hippo? Helmeppo? Whatever his name was, he grew. Zoro noticed as much in Water Seven) and Luffy's unstoppable faith in him since day one.

He doesn't noticed when the others gather around, forming a little circle on the grassy deck until they're all laughing and happily chatting about the outrageous things that have happened on this merry trip they call an _adventure_.

"What was it like?" Brook asks as he gently strums his guitar and looks at both Nami and Zoro. "Sailing at the start with just the three of you?"

Nami and Zoro glance at each other before Nami bursts out in laughter and Zoro shakes his head and looks up at the sky. Nami clams down enough to lean forward and rest her head on her hands, her eyes sparkling with mirth in the sun.

"The boat was only meant for two people in the first place," Zoro rolls his eyes but theres a grin on his face. "This little tiny fishing dinghy that Luffy picked up somewhere. It had a hole in its left side."

"Luffy didn't quiet have his sea legs yet, kept tripping over us. Fell overboard a few times. Zoro and Luffy were content to just let the ocean and wind take them wherever. I think Luffy ate all the food within the first two days out at sea," she stops, grins and laughs. "It was the best two weeks of my life."

"Remember when Luffy first showed up to my home town?" Usopp says and he's sputtering in laughter. "The first thing he ever says to me is something like _if you drew your pistol, are you going to use it?_ "

" _Now that you've drawn your pistol, are you willing to use it?_ " Zoro corrects. "He said that guns weren't for threats, they were for actions."

"I never knew where he got that from," Nami shakes her head but looks at Usopp with a smirk. "You almost wet yourself."

"I did! It was scary!" Usopp says and the rest of the crew dissolves into a fit of laughter. Robin covers her face to keep her chuckles in and Zoro smirks. Brook, Chopper and Franky are rolling on the ground with their own special brand of laughter at the mere thought of _Luffy_ threatening _Usopp_. "Here I am, surrounded by three ten-year-olds and my first time meeting actual pirates. You'd all seen through my bluffs and I was left with ten pistachio nuts. Luffy did that thing—you know, the one where he pulls down his hat to cover his eyes? And then he _threatens_ me! You'd be scared too!"

"I would've tried to cut him down," Zoro says.

"Yeah, well, you would, huh?" Usopp says and crosses his arms with a laugh. "Being the Demon of East Blue and all."

"I didn't even—" Zoro goes to complain because he did _not_ give himself that title _thank you very much_ , but Sanji (that stupid damn cook) interrupts.

"Remember when he was utterly convinced that he needed a statue?" the cook leans back and lays against the deck, looking at the sky. "For almost three months. Right before Skypiea."

"A bronze statue. He's wanted one of those since the beginning," Nami says. "I'm glad he dropped that. There was no way were we're fitting a bronze statue on the Merry."

"That's a _SUPPPER_ good idea," Franky says and he's already tinkering away. "We could definitely put a SUPER statue here on the _Sunny_!"

Sanji and Nami strike down the idea before he can even begin drawing blueprints while Robin and Brook laugh in the background. Chopper seems disappointed, but Zoro knows he'll be over it eventually. They arguing and laughing and Franky still manages to draw up a small staue before Nami can rip the paper out of his hands. It dissolves into a weird mix of hot potato and keep away.

The game ends, however, when a sudden burst of wind carries the drawing into the ocean.

"When I first met Luffy, he and Sanji tried to eat me," Chopper says and most of the crew's heads swivel towards the cook, the statue drawing long forgotten. Zoro raises an eyebrow, not at all surprised. The cook's stupidity knows no bounds.

"We were hungry!" Sanji tries to defend. "We didn't know he talked!"

"They chased me down the halls of the castle for hours. I was yelling the entire time. I honestly thought I was going to die," Chooper says and his hooves cover his mouth to hide in his giggles. "Nami didn't try to eat me, though."

"They were screaming for _hours_ ," Nami says and rolls her eyes. "I think Luffy decided that he wanted Chopper on the crew the moment Chopper transformed and rightfully smacked the both of them. Luffy wanted Chopper to join before he even knew he was a doctor—he thought Chopper was the coolest thing he'd ever seen."

Chopper blushes and mutters insults under his breath while Usopp laughs and throws an arm around his friend's furry shoulders. Franky takes the time to launch into the tale of when he got the shit beaten out of him (and seems oddly proud it it). Robin recounts the time Luffy braved poison to save her (an enemy) and the king. Brook sings a verse of the first time he and Luffy met and how Luffy offered him a place on the crew within mere seconds. From East Blue to the New World. All the island adventures, all the dangerous stunts, all the people that they've met.

They don't notice as the sun sets and a cool breeze overtakes the ship, while thousands of stars decorate the skies, too lost in the memories of their crazy captain and even crazier adventures. Talking about all the Grand Line has thrown at them and all that they've thrown back. Their captain snoozes in the infirmary while they share all the wild stories of his adventures. In the end, they end up curled under the stars, exchanging stories and laughing until they couldn't breathe. From the start of their journey in that small fishing dinghy to the ship they proudly sail on now.

 _Our adventures have made us who we are today,_ Zoro thinks. Every little thing they've done, every little thing they will do.

He's content to let this journey take them to the next grand thing because he knows, as they all do, that they'll make it through. They've got dreams on their shoulders and friends watching their backs.

And who knows? Maybe one day, years from now, he'll have new stories to share.


End file.
